According to Tribune, Sinclair committed to use reasonable best efforts to obtain regulatory approval as promptly as possible, instead, Sinclair engaged in unnecessarily aggressive and protracted negotiations with the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission over regulatory requirements.

"While what has apparently killed this deal was Sinclair's pattern of deception at the FCC - a fact that should affect its future dealings at the Commission - the deal was bad on its own merits, and this latest development is good for consumers", said Phillip Berenbroick, senior policy counsel at the organization. Sinclair also refused to sell certain stations that would have helped the deal secure regulatory approval, Tribune claimed in a news release.

Pai suddenly announced last month that he had "serious concerns" about the deal because Sinclair's divesture plan would still leave it effectively in control of TV stations in markets where its ownership exceeded FCC limitations, including in Chicago.

Tribune pointed to the same problems that the FCC found in Sinclair's proposal to divest some stations in order to stay under federal ownership limits. Sinclair was to have acquired Tribune for a hefty $3.9 billion price tag - in a move that would have added dozens of local stations to the roughly 200 which are already in its portfolio.

"In light of (the FCC order), this transaction can not be completed within an acceptable time frame, if ever", Kern said.

'This uncertainty and delay would be detrimental to our company and our shareholders'.

Public Knowledge, an advocacy group that has been critical of the FCC under Pai, has been against a tie up between Sinclair and Tribune from the start. Even those unfamiliar with Sinclair got to know the company after a long segment on it by John Oliver on his HBO show Last Week Tonight, as well as a video montage that went viral last winter of Sinclair anchors being made to read a Trump-ian script about "fake news". Sinclair would have stations in Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Virginia, Indianapolis, Seattle, Sacramento, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Des Moines, Denver, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Memphis, Miami, Greensboro, Richmond, Des Moines, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, St. Louis and more.

The Sinclair Broadcast Group was its roots in the early 1970s, when Julian Sinclair Smith operated an FM radio station and a TV station in Baltimore.

The FCC's concerns followed similar questions raised in separate filings by the American Civil Liberties Union and conservative news outlet Newsmax Media.

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